Dual-mode monitor scaling test (version 1)

This page is meant to simplify determining whether a dual-mode monitor adds blur or uses integer scaling with no blur, when operating in half-resolution mode: 1920×1080 on a 4K (3840×2160) monitor, 2560×1440 on a 5K (5120×2880) monitor, and so on.

The page automatically sets correct physical sizes of the test images regardless of the OS-level zoom and browser-level zoom. So you don’t need to save the image to your computer and use a standalone image-viewer application.

Note that dual-mode half-resolution mode is not the same as a regular half-resolution mode available via the operating-system’s display settings. Dual-mode half-resolution mode makes the monitor’s half resolution the maximum resolution available (so it looks to computer as if the half resolution was the native resolution) and allows to use a higher refresh rate, and is usually toggled via either a dedicated physical button/switch on the monitor or via a dedicated option in the monitor’s OSD menu sometimes called “Frame Rate Boost”.

The higher the detail is, the better. No need to fit the entire image in the photo. The image contains the same test pattern repeated multiple times just for convenience. A couple of copies of the pattern is enough.

How to get sharp photos: Take multiple photos in a row, then choose the sharpest one. To prevent moir, rotate the camera by 30-45°.

🎲 Test image: 100% (1x) scale (no scaling) with 1×1 pixels

Take a photo of this image in dual-mode half-resolution mode (1920×1080 on 4K monitor, 2560×1440 on 5K monitor, and so on). If the monitor uses integer scaling in half-resolution mode, each logical pixel will be a block of exactly 2×2 same-color physical pixels.

✔️ Reference image: 200% (2x) integer scaling with 2×2 pixels

Take a photo of this image at native display resolution (4K on a 4K monitor, 5K on a 5K monitor, and so on). The photo will serve as a reference of how true integer scaling should look on the same monitor when using the same photocamera.